Overhead door supporting mechanism



Jan. 21, 1958 R. G.'JOHANNSEN 2,

OVERHEAD DOOR SUPPORTING MECHANISM 2 sheets-sgaet 1 INVENTOR. izzase/ '6. J'iarzrzsefl,

Filed Dec. 10, .1954

Jan. 21, 1958 R. G. JOHANNSEN 2,820,239

OVERHEAD DOOR SUPPORTING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 -Filed Dec. 10. 1954 United States Patent 2,820,239 OVERHEAD DOOR SUPPORTING MECHANISM Russel G. Johannsen, Detroit, Mich. Application December 10, 1954, Serial No. 474,382 6 Claims. (Cl. 16-1) This invention relates to balancing mechanism for doors, and particularly to a door supporting mechanism which permits the door to hinge outwardly and upwardly and then roll backwardly inwardly of the door opening.

It is the practice in the art to provide supporting mechanism for doors, particularly garage doors, which is spring balanced to permit the door to swing outwardly and upwardly and to extend forwardly of the opening. It has also been the practice in the art to make a door from a plurality of sections which are hinged together and provided with rollers which rode in L-shaped tracks permitting the door to be raised vertically and rolled rearwardly on the horizontal branch of the tracks inwardly of the door opening.

The present invention pertains to door supporting mechanism so constructed as to permit the door to swing outwardly and upwardly forwardly of the opening in position to be rolled rearwardly of the opening on horizontal tracks at the top of the door opennig. In this arrangement, a unit door is employed having rollers on the upper edge which rest within the forward edge of the horizontal tracks. Additional rollers engage the edge rails on the inner side of the door which are mounted on vertically movable carriers. The carriers are balanced by springs and the additional rollers are engaged by arcuate elements on the inner side rails of the door when in closed or in tilted position. When the bottom of the door is pulled outwardly, it swings about the upper rollers which move rearwardly in the tracks as the carriage is moved upwardly by the springs carrying the additional roller therewith until the door is in horizontal position. The door may then be moved inwardly on the additional rollers and the rollers on the top of the door within the tracks. To lower the door, it is first pulled outwardly until the arcuate elements engage the additional rollers after which it is tilted downwardly forcing the carriages downwardly to compress the springs. The door is balanced by the springs which retain it in closed position, with the bottom urged inwardly. The springs balance the door as it is pulled out and tilted to horizontal position after which they hold the additional rollers in position to have the door roll thereon when moved rearwardly within the door opening.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are: to provide hardware for a door which permits the door to swing outwardly and upwardly and thereafter move backwardly within the door opening; to provide a pair of rollers for the top edge of the door adjacent to which roller engaging brackets are provided which engage additional rollers on carriages which are moved vertically by springs as the door is tilted to horizontal position, permitting the door to move backwardly on tracks at the side of the opening and on said additional rollers, and, in general, to provide hardware for a door which permits the door to be swung outwardly and moved rearwardly in a horizontal plane, which is simple in construction, positive in operation, and economical of manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be specifically pointed out or will become apparent 2,820,239 Patented Jan. 21, 1958 when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the inner side of a door with its supporting mechanism embodying features of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, taken on the line 2--2 thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, taken on the line 3-3 thereof, with the door in closed position;

Fig. 4 is a view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 3, with the door illustrated in raised position and in intermediate positions, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, taken on the line 5-5 thereof.

The door 6 is of a type illustrated, described and claimed in the patent to R. G. Johannsen, No. 2,686,579, issued August 17, 1954. The door is made from a plurality of panels 7 having channel members 8 at the side edges. The bottom of the door has a rubber sealing strip 9 secured thereto in the conventional manner. The door closes an opening defined by jambs 11 at each side thereof on which the supporting mechanisms 12 are mounted.

Each mechanism embodies a hollow box section element 13 which is closed except for a slot 14 on the inner face providing aligned, inwardly extending flanges 15 in parallel relation to a spaced web 16. A carriage 17 is mounted within each element 13, the carriage having four stamped rollers 18, a pair of which is mounted on a shaft 19 at each end of a carrier frame 21. The frame is made of a pair of stampings having central embossments providing an aperture 22 through which a stud 23 extends, being secured therein by a nut 24.

The lower end of the frame 21 is extended beyond the lower pair of rollers 18 and is secured by a bolt or rivet 25 to a rod 26 which has a washer 27 secured thereon which abuts a spring 28. The lower end of the spring spring rests upon a flange 29 of a bracket 31 through which the rod 26 extends, guided in an aperture therein. A vertical flange 32 of the bracket 31 is secured to the jamb 11 by a plurality of screws 33. The stud 23 supports a flanged roller 34 which engages the inner flange of the channel element 8 at the sides of the door 6.

Each channel element supports a bracket 35 which may be made of strap material to have an arcuate end 36 presented longitudinally of the door in position to engage the flanged rollers 34 when the door is moved outwardly. The upper end of the door has a reinforcing plate 37 in each channel element 8 at each side thereof for supporting a shaft 38 on which a roller 39 is mounted outwardly of the channel element. The rollers 39 are confined within horizontally disposed channel track elements 41 which extend inwardly of the door opening. It is to be understood that the mechanism thus described is applied to the jambs 11 at each side of the door and that the hardware is exactly the same at the door edges.

When the door is in closed position, the springs 28 are compressed and the carriages 17 are in the lower position within the box section elements 13, with the rollers 39 in the forward edge of the channel rail elements 41. In this arrangement, the bottom of the door is urged inwardly by the tension of the springs 28 due to the application of the tension from the additional rollers to the brackets 35 extending inwardly of the door. As the door is pulled outwardly at the bottom, the rollers 39 move inwardly while the brackets 35 and rollers 34 move upwardly, thereby shifting the spring pressure to assist the tilting of the door which is substantially balanced thereby so that very little effort is required to raise the door to horizontal position at the top of the opening. The door will. project forwardly of the opening and since the rollers 39 are in the channel rails 41 and the flanged rollers 34 are supported in uppermost position in engagement with the flange of the channel side elements 3 of the door, the door is supported on the four rollers 39 and 34 and will move inwardly of the opening by a gentle push on the outer end thereof. When the door is to be closed, it is pulled outwardly until the arcuate surface 36 on the brackets 35 engages the peripheral surface of the rollers 34, after which a downward movement on the outer edge of the door will cause the carriage 17 to be moved downwardly compressing the springs 28 The compression load is substantially reduced as the rollers 39 approach the front end of the tracks 41 so that very little effort is required to close the door and compress the springs 28. During the closing movement the forces are constantly changing until, near the end of the movement, the application of pressure reverses and a force is applied to the brackets 35 which urges the door inwardly and retains it in closed position.

What is claimed is:

1. A supporting and operating mechanism for a door, a frame for the door, a vertically movable carriage at each side of the frame, compression springs carried by said frame for urging said carriages upwardly, a roller mounted on said carriages engaging the inner side edges of the door, brackets on said door edges engaging said rollers when the door is in closed and forward positions, tracks at the top edges of the frame extending horizontally inwardly of the door opening, and wheels on the side edges of the door disposed in said tracks, the door being swung outwardly and upwardly into horizontal position as the carriages are moved upwardly by the springs and the wheels in the track move rearwardly to have the door supported on the wheels and the rollers on which the door may be moved rearwardly when in raised position.

2. A mechanism, a pair of which supports and controls the operation of a door into upward tilting and rearward rolling positions, said mechanism embodying a slotted tubular element of rectangular shape, a wheeled carriage guided within said element, a stud on said carriage, a roller on said stud, a rod on said carriage having a spring engaging element, a' spring confined between said element and a support through which the rod extends, a bracket for the door engageable with the roller on the stud of the carriage, a channel rail mountable horizontally and extending inwardly of the door opening, and a wheel mountable on the upper side edge of the door and extendable within said track element.

3. Mechanism for supporting and controlling the operation of a door including, in combination, a frame for said door, a pair of channel-shaped track members extending inwardly of said frame at the sides of the door, wheels on the upper side edge of the door confined within said track members, vertically movable rollers at the compress the springs when the door is tilted closed, wheels on the top edges of the door, and substantially horizontal track means at each side of the frame confining said Wheels whereby when the door is in raised position it is supported on the wheels and the springpressed rollers, thereby permitting the door to be rolled rearwardly of the door opening after being tilted to raised position.

5. The combination with a door and a door frame, of spring-pressed rollers at each side of the frame which engage the inner side edges'or the door, stop means on the side edges of the door which engage the rollers and compress the springs when the door is tilted closed, wheels on the top edges of the door, and substantially horizontal track means at each side of the frame confining said wheels whereby when the door is in raised position it is supported on the wheels and stop means and rollers being disposed on the inner face of the door inwardly of said wheels when the door is closed urges the door to closed position near the end of its closing movement.

6. The combination with a door and a frame therefor, of substantially vertical track means on each side of said frame,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Venditty Ian. 3, 1939 Hormes Oct. 5, 1948 

